75008
story
schnippy writes
"U.S. intelligence agencies believe that China has successfully tested an anti-satellite weapon by destroying one of their old weather satellites. The test, if confirmed, would be an order of magnitude more provocative than earlier reports of Chinese blinding lasers being. Arms Control Wonk has a good writeup on what this will mean for U.S. policy."
73844
submission
silentounce writes:
Scientific American and other sources report that "researchers at Hewlett-Packard Co. have devised a way to make a specialized type of computer chip up to eight times denser using nanotechnology, in a development that could extend the life of current chipmaking technologies." They call the new technology a "field programmable nanowire interconnect (FPNI)". They've created a switch that can route info more efficiently inside a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), a specific kind of chip. "We essentially provided a recipe to improve the circuitry of FPGA's by the equivalent of three generations of Moore's law without having to shrink the transistor," says Stan Williams, a senior fellow and director of quantum science research at HP's research laboratory.
73840
submission
zyl0x writes:
Forbes.com has a story online about the "Crackberry" generation of IT and how constant, wireless connectivity negatively affects our lives, in particular, our sex lives. The article quotes a clinical psychologist who has coined the phrase "DINS couples" (double income, no sex), and goes into details of how mobile devices and too much office responsibility may be damaging our sex lives.
From the article:
"What does this mean for constantly connected couples? According to therapists and psychologists, around-the-clock access to the office often results in fatigue, a lack of intimacy, resentment, increased conflict and even premature career burnout. All of which are enough to crater a less-than-solid marriage or relationship."
Not that many of us have a sex life to lose, but maybe our Black- and Blueberrys are the ultimate cause?
73832
submission
erik_norgaard writes:
A report (PDF) released by the EU commission concludes that in almost all cases savings would be made by switching to Open Source, reports ZDNet.co.uk. The conclusion is based on detailed analysis of open source projects in six EU countries.
73804
submission
superash writes:
Vallejo (California): "A cell phone apparently ignited in a man's pocket and started a fire that burned his hotel room and caused severe burns over half his body, fire department officials said.
Fifty-nine-year-old Luis Picaso was in stable condition on Monday with second- and third-degree burns to his upper body, back, right arm and right leg, Vallejo Fire Department assistant chief Kurt Henke said."
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/cell-phone-sets-off-fi re-man-charred/31317-11.html
There was a incident some time back where a laptop battery exploded endagering life of many in a high profile conference. Are the hardware manufacturers taking the common man for granted? Are these a result of low-cost production(outsourcing) ??
56704
submission
LittleRedStar writes:
This Wednesday night and Thursday morning is the peak of the
Geminid meteor shower. This is the typically the best meteor show of the year with up to 100 meteors per hour. This year the moon is a nuisance but with the peak predicted for early Thursday morning it is worth getting out and watching. Since the perseid meteor shower was washed out from the moon and the Leonids were a bust this should be the best for 2006.